The four astronauts of Artemis II have safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, concluding a historic 10-day mission around the moon. The Orion capsule touched down at 5.07pm local time (1.07am BST) on Friday, marking the first time humans have travelled to the moon and returned to Earth since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Nasa’s associate administrator Amit Kshatriya said at a press conference: “53 years ago, humanity left the moon. This time we return to stay. Let us finish what they started.” The spacecraft travelled 694,481 miles (1,117,659km) during the mission, which officially lasted nine days, one hour and 32 minutes.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch of Nasa, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, join just 24 other humans who have made the round trip to the moon. As the capsule neared Earth, Wiseman described the view: “There’s a great blue hue to it. It’s beautiful.”
Recovery teams from the USS John P Murtha retrieved the crew, who were transferred by helicopter to the navy ship. Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman, speaking from the deck, said: “This is not a once in a lifetime… This is just the beginning. We are going to get back into doing this with frequency, sending missions to the moon until we land on it in 2028.”
Christina Koch, the only woman to have travelled to the moon and back during the mission, reflected on her first impressions: “The moon really is its own unique body in the universe… it just reminds us how much we have in common.” Nasa will now build on the mission’s success as it prepares for Artemis III, a scheduled crewed lunar landing in 2028.
